Car door opener



1 I o. E. GONZALES 2,603,482

CAR DOOR OPENER Filed ma 1, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 4ENTOR. Qpz/A/ fond/w 604 14! 0. E. GONZALES CAR DOOR OPENER July 15, 1952 Filed May 1, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented July 15, 195 2 oAnnoon OPENE v 1 Odli'n d nd G es; Oa l n Ca if 'i' pplic ti n-Magi, 194s,-s e ri 1Ne,,2i;29 5' .s,o leiiiis=l (0116894411 ch engaged'with t e freight car'doorsand'the like;-- door opening device. 'fConsi'd'erable 'diilicul'ty is experienced in Opii- Referring now to the drawings, andmore par 'ing freight car doors; notyonly because of the ticularly-to Figs. land 2, there is shown fragweight-of the' 'door 'but al'so becauseofirequent 5 mentarily a freight" car I having the usual sliding This'invention'rel'atesfto'an opener for' opening bined pryin tool -and-: wren disalignnint'ofjmoving"parts-thereofand because doorxlpa door :frame '3 {and adoor'stop d'fs 'The er rusting'and fox-other reasonse-"Forthe purpose door structure is also provided f with theusual of opening such doors, mechanical doo openers track 75",;ro1lersi i6tridingithe track 5- an'dguides havein-thepastbeen provided-a- I I or guardimemb'ers "i To car door'openers as-heietofore provided have 6 :.As :shown more clearly in'. Fig. 2,";a;oar.-dv:)or

been deficient in several respects; Thus, "some opener indicated generally as" "1* is provided. ofth'ein have been iisableonly or' mainly'as'per- Such door opener comprisesa framework II inmanent fixtures, which-is'obviously expensive in eluding an inner longitudinal bar I 2, an outer lone asmuch as one such o'p'e'ner is required for'each gitudinal bar. l3, end bars l4 and reinforcing bars freight car. Frequentlyf also, those "car door 15 I5 disposed transversely of :the.' framework and openers which areprmanehtfixtrires involve 'the between the end bars M. A cable l6 is'provided use of 'ahandwheel 'or othefsimilar devicei'exandis secured at;its ends to.;eyebo1ts clkpassing tending outwardly of the-car, thus constitutingan throughgthe ,endbars Ill-and securedin place? by 'side of -the car.

undesirable and-hazardous projection 'from'the wing nuts, l8.. The cablelfi-is'disposed diagonally r2 1 of the framework, as-shown, andis 'coiledabout :"Transportabl'e car door openers' -Which'are not a drum having grooves 26, to receive the cable car fixtures have be'eniprovided, but many of as the drum is rotatedfas'described in detailhere:

thefri a'recomplic'atedin design and require sevinafter ;The drum. 2,5;is providedcwithiflanges eral men to operate the same. Certain of these .21; at each end thereof, and it is. keyed to' arshait openers also require attachment to safety devices, 2 28 carried in bearings'ZQI, Beari s, 9. are S c ed such asthe rungsof laddersusedat the sides and to or are integral with- ;a;l;l,shape d1bracket -13] ends of freight cars, in contravention of regulahaving channelled legs;32;and&33.- which-engage tions forbidding ,eserti n of u ue; t ain upon andare lidablealong;th,einner and.outerrlongir such safety devices. J I .tudinalbarslZ-garrdi Foot. members -or,-prongs It' is' an object of the present invention to prol 7 bar ara n n ther o nde o the-bracket vide an improved type ofcar' door opener;

"i It is a'fu'rtherobject of the invention to proyide 3 I The shaft 28 extends outwardly Off e fr aoa 10 01 Whichis 13 transportable work I l and toxits outer end. is secureda handbu t which is light of weight and is of a design such Wheel 35! The? shaft; alsn exterlldsv Somewhat 'th'a't one man can manipulatesame. I

35 outwardly of thehandwheelitoprovide afre'c ii-It is a further-object of the'invention to protangular Sections] adapted to engage aiwrnch vid am1'(11501Wellerwhich ngages mma'side Inwardly-of the handwheel 3s and seour e'd- =-t'o 'dth'dwnbemg (med b and i 191? n the shaft -28'is a ratchet wheel!!! an too'nei e f'rame or 'a'door stop. .A r: I These"and other objects of-the inve'ntio will and i-nalignmenttherewith pawl 4]; i I V 1 the 40 vided-rwhich is pivoted to a 'lug'or bracket' fl apparent from the ensum? desq p nd secured to or integral with the main bracket 3|.

appendedclaims. e .7

l-:Certain-forms which the invention may' 'assume 5 Shawn l' inifi i- 1 and 3' i i are exemplified in the following description and r re a On? end 1 it b a yi 1 i e illustrated by way f example in the accompany- A-doub1e hook 45 is also provided, the chain 43 ing drawing, i hi and hook being for a purpose hereinafter Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation describe? of the device of the invention shown as engaging a Referrmg now to Fig. re 18 s ow a modidoor frame a d a d t open th l tt fication in which the shaft 28 carrying the drum Fig, 21 a plan view of t same, 25 is provided at its outer end with a gear 54, Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken along the a the handwheel 3 is ca ed O a Separate line 3-3 of Fig. 2, shaft 28a suitably journalled in the bracket 3|,

Fig. 4 is a similar section of a modified form of and at its inner end the shaft 28a is provided with the invention, and a pinion 65 meshing with the gear 64. Any de- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a comsired gear ratio between the pinion gear 64 and of the shaft 28. Thus, the leverv 56 may be used 7 to open a *sticky. door, or it may be used as a prying tool or crowbar to pry open a closed door to provide a crack for inserting the prongs 34 and,35.- 1' 1 y In operation, the device is used as follows: Assuming that it is desired to open the door of a freightcar, the prongs 34 and 35 are inserted be- 1 tween the'car door and the door frame. If-necessary, the door may be opened slightly by means of the tool 66 to permit insertion of the prongs; Meanwhile, the device is supported by draping the chain 43 'over the lug 46 on' the door latch 41 and by hooking together opposite links'of the chain by means of the hook 45, as shown. With the prongs-t4 and 35,,properly seatedbetween the door and the door frame, the? handwheel 36 'is' turned clockwise, thus causing the drum to rotate'and-to' travel along the-cable. l6 between-the endsiof theframework ll,,,carrying with it the movable :prongz; and thus opening the door.

1 Assuming that'it isrdesired to closeeazfreight carldoorpthe device zislused similarly exceptithat .cult to 013811301 close, thetool .66 may 'be used as indicated. .r V l v Itis, thus apparent that a light weight, movablescar 'door openr has been provided which can be manipulatedbyone man-and which does not place any strain upon safety devices such as the :rungs of -ladders secured 'tothe sides of "a freight-car. I Also, the device is simple in design and.. construction and can be manufactured by assembly'of standard parts. 'Amongthe important advantages of the device may be-mentioned the'followfing: Except for temporary support by "the; chain :43 while engaging the -prongs 34 and 35 :withthe: door "frame or door sto'p a'n'jd door,

'th'e devic'eengagesthe' door structure at'only two;

'points; -and at these points the engagement is by "abutment against-solid, substantial members. Thus, no strain is placed upon weak-structures or safety devices. A'lsofthe handwheel 36 follows the movable prong-.3 5; which is advantageous in that the'o'perator has better control;

While I have shown the preferred .form' of my: invention, it is to beunderstoodithat, various changes may be'made'in its'construction by those skilled in the art without departingv from'the spirit ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims r Having thusldescribed my;invention,-what.I

claim and-desire to secure by=Letters Patent is: 1. A portable freight car door opening device '4 comprising an elongated frame arranged to be placed in a horizontal position over a door to be opened, a carriage supported by the frame for movement therealong, a fixed abutment member fixed to the frame and adapted to abut the vertical edge of a door frame, a movable abutment member supported by the carriage, and.

means carried by the carriage and operatively connected to the frame for causing movement of the carriagealong th'lframe {and therefore relative movement of the abutment 'members, said means including a Windlass on the carriage and a cable secured at its ends to the frame and V coiled about the drum of the Windlass.

2. A portable door opening device comprising an elongated frame, a carriage supported by the frame for movement therealong, a fixed abutment member fixed to the frame and adapted to abut the vertical edge of a door frame, a movable abutment member supported by the carriage, and means carried by the carriage. and pperatively connected to the framefor causing'movexncnt of the carriage along the frame and therefore. relativemovement of the abutment members, said means including a Windlass ;on the carriage and ajcable' secured at its; ends :to the opposite ends of theirameandcoiled about the drum gof the Wi'IldIflSStr r l 3. A portable door-opening device-comprising a/frame, ja carriage supported by the framefor movement therealong, a fixed abutment; member fixed: to" the frame and adapted to abut the verticaledge. of a door'frame, a movableabutment member supportedby the carriage, and means carried by the carriage V and; operatively con- .nectedto thefram'e for causing-movement ofthe carriage. along the frame and therefore; relative movement ofthe,abutment members, said means including a Windlass on the carriage and a cable secured at its ends to the oppositelends ofthe frame and coiled: [about the drum 'ofrthe wind- 7 lass, :means for tensioning the cable.-

' ODLIN: EDMOND-GONZALES REFERENCES CITED (Elie following references are 7 of record *in athe UNITED sTATEseaTENTs f Number Name- 'Date" 589,082 g-Hanke- "re-Aug. 31, 1897 610,505 Vanstone Sept.-6, 1898 927,695 Stake-, July: 13, 1909 1,343,925 McGann June 22-, 51920 1,361,726 Hebert L i*Dec.-.7;, 1920 1,478,326 Dooley v Dec; 18, 1923 1,714,632,: scantlin May 28,1929 1,7 43,247 Stark J an. "-14; 1930 1,775,093 Hemrich' Sept. 9, .1930

--2,'097,949 Johnson Now-2,1937

2,229,521 Pinkham '.Jan.-21, 19.41 

